WEBVTT Kind: captions; Language: en

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numbers, numbers, numbers. It's hard to
imagine modern day horse racing without

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all the numbers and without all the
computers that have to crunch those numbers.

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Computers that calculate odds and payoffs.
Indeed computers have had a major

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effect on all kinds of gambling,
not just horse racing. Everything from

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computerized slot machines in Vegas
to massive databases for professional

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gamblers. Today we take a look at
computers and gambling on this

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edition of the Computer Chronicles.

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The Computer Chronicles is made
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Byte's detailed technical articles

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on new hardware,
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computer technology worldwide.

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Welcome to the Computer Chronicles.
I'm Stuart Chiffay and

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with me this week is George Morrow.

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George got kind of interested down there
at the racetrack so I got a daily racing

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from here and this little computer.
I enter all the data here from the racing

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form into the computer and the computer
predicts which horses are most likely to

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win the race. We'll see if it works.
Seems to be using a computer to figure out

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which horse is going to win a race is
really the same thing as using a computer

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to figure out say which stock
is going to win on Wall Street.

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I think you're right Stuart. People that
do this for a living that give you odds

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and horses are handicappers. People that
do the same thing or advise you about

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stocks. I think they admit to handicapping
a stock. So here computers are helping

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you form judgments. They're an analytical tool.

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There's another aspect of gambling which
is the chance part of it and there in

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games of pure chance I think computers
are being used to help you entertain

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yourself as you put your money in these
machines. George we're going to see both

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those examples in fact on the program.
We're going to start out by taking a trip

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to Reno, Nevada to see how computers
have revolutionized the casino business.

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Enormous casinos with extravagant neon
displays. Stacks of cards and chips on

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green felt tables and clanging slot machines.
These are the traditional symbols

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of gambling but in America's casino capitals
poker chips are increasingly sharing

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the floor with microchips especially in
the slot machines. Yeah the poker machine

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is a prime example of that which for all
intents and purposes didn't even exist

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ten years ago and it's approximately 34
to 36 percent of the Nevada market today.

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At the International Gaming Technology
Corporation in Reno, Nevada slot machines

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have little in common with their clanking
mechanical ancestors. These slots are

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sophisticated PCs controlled by an Intel
microprocessor and they feature special

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graphics and sound chips. They're even
designed by computer. Putting a coin in

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the slot is almost like booting up.
Basically when you put your money in the

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machine and let's take the example of a
slot machine and you pull a handle at

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that point in time the microcomputer
is programmed to pick a random number

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actually computer random number using a
32-bit random number generator. It will

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then take that 32-bit number and it will
basically divide it down to a number

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which is within the range of the number
of symbols on the real strips in the

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machine and it will determine what
the outcome of the game is to be.

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Since the game's outcome is determined
electronically the spinning reels are

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included just to preserve the traditional
external appearance of the game an

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aspect of great importance to casino operators.
In some cases the electronics

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scare them away to be specific if
we have a real machine simulated

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on a video device and we have all kinds
of animation and I think you may have

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seen some examples of that that didn't
necessarily turn on the slot player it

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just was too much of a computer screen is
our impression whereas in a poker game

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it's the same technology involved
but they love that. Concealed

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within the friendly interface is a high
level of electronic security such as

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optical readers that can tell if a coin
is being dropped in or pulled out of the

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slot and sensors that detect if a door
is open or if someone has tampered with

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the reels. Slot machines are tied into
a local area network that transmits any

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discrepancies to the central computer
room specifying the kind of fault and the

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machine's number. At the Harris Casino
in Reno a game called Megabucks uses the

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latest in fiber optics and even satellite
transmission to tie hundreds of

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machines together to a central jackpot
computer as each coin drops the amount of

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the bet is transferred by fiber optic
cable to the casinos computer center the

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mainframe recalculates and transmits the
new jackpot to an LED display on the

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casino floor the same system operates
between casinos around the state over a

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satellite link. Kino is another game that
has been radically changed by computer

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processing while paper tickets are still
written out by the player all data entry

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number reading and bet tabulation are
done by computer which can process the

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results of the game in about 22 seconds.
Harris machines are equipped with more

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than coin slots the new generation of
one armed bandits is more like the

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automatic teller machine at a bank with
some important differences you can't make

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withdrawals or deposits but the casino
will issue personal identification cards

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to any interested customer.

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Joining us in the studio now is Robin Kabi.
Robin's president of Computer Sports

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World and next to Robin is Roxy Roxborough.
Roxy's an odds maker from Las Vegas

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and generally considered to be the top
odds maker in the country. George. Robin,

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Computer Sports World is a database of
sports statistics it's owned by the

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Chronicle. How does that work together?
Well many newspapers in the last several

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years have wanted to get involved in new
forms of communication and communication

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database services and Computer Sports
World was one of those companies that was

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out there that was in a good market it
was a good concept and it was something

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that the Chronicle was very interested
in pursuing. This is almost a unique

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database. Is anybody else off or anything
like this? Not exactly like this. We're

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an online database which means that if
you have a computer and a modem or a

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communicating terminal you can sign on to
us making a local phone call 24 hours a

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day. And Roxy you use this database.
Yes it's an instrumental part of making the

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odds. What's your opinion of it?
Well I think it's fantastic because it takes a

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lot of time away that I used to have to
spend doing handwritten notes and keeping

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a lot of statistics. So it keeps track
of everything that you need to know to

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make odds. Right and it files and organizes
everything. Were you able in fact

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before you had computers and databases
like this keep track of I mean the

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incredible volume of stats and numbers
to make odds? Well we did we made do but

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we do a much better job now. So you feel
that you're a lot more accurate having

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this database? Much more accurate and you
know you have to remember the gamblers

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have this database too so that's one of
the reasons we need to keep on top of it.

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Are you aware of people in
the gambling business that

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use it as extensively as you do?

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Yes there are there are players gamblers
that use it. Robin let's take a look at

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the system now and show us the kinds of
things you can get out of this database.

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We're online right now to your service right?
Right the first thing we're gonna

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want to do is right now we're looking
at it live so we're watching the

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information come right in. The first thing
is Scropper would say it's very easy

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to use you get you only go in by entering
three-digit codes and you'll get a menu

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that looks like this that'll lead you to that.
Right now we're looking at

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information coming in live if I'd like to
look if I want to look at a matchup for

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example which is a file that Roxy uses
quite a bit I type in three digits it

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immediately comes up. So you can go anywhere?
This is an NCAA basketball matchup

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yes three digits. What do you get from
that Roxy? Well here we have Georgia Tech

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at DePaul I see right away that DePaul's
13 and 0 at home that means they're

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unbeaten on their home court that's gonna
make them a pretty good favorite even

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over a good ACC team like Georgia Tech.
I can see that Georgia Tech's only six

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and six on the road it also shows me all
their spread records and it shows me the

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last five games that each team's played.
Okay so you can get home field advantage

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all that kind of stuff what about an
NBA basketball show us an example there

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Robin. Well we got box score we could
take a look at after each game is over we

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go over the box scores to make sure that
all the key players were both teams

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played here's a game where San Antonio
played Dallas last night. Now San

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Antonio's players are coming across right
here where all their starters played

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and their major reserves and then we'll
check Dallas. This is something you would

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do every day. Yes after each game is over.
What does this show you? Well right

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now I see where Dallas is star point
guard Derek Harper didn't play in fact he

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wasn't even a reserve so I'll have to find
out why. Beautiful presentations. Okay

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and how do you do that what are you
doing Robin? We go right to the injuries

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three one four the injuries from the NBA.
Okay so you've got a special injury

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database. Right and then we'll check up
to see if they have any reason maybe

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Harper didn't play last night for Dallas.
Okay so let's get to Dallas. What's it

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tell you? Well it says that Harper's got
an infected toe and also reserve guard

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Al Woods got a strained left shoulder.
They both miss Friday's game they're

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expected to see limited action if any on
Saturday so I know that when they play

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Golden State tonight I'll have to make
some slight adjustment in the line. Okay

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what about baseball Robin that's a statistics
crazy game what can you show us on

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baseball? Baseball let me show you the
index of our baseball statistics. This is

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where we really have a lot of statistics
baseball being so statistical and we do

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go back several years. Look at that yeah.

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So you can see how left-handed pitchers
do versus right-handers how you do on

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AstroTurf versus grass how pitchers do
after so many days off it's all there. And

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it's very easy to get that too.
Yes three digits in here there. And Roxy you

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would use a lot of stuff and put your line
on a baseball game? I use a lot of it.

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The keys are how teams do against righties
and lefties and day night performance.

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Okay can you tell us who's going to
win the pennant this year Robin?

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Uh we do have the odds on that we're
probably one of the first up there Roxy

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provides that with us. Well if you're
in New York or you'll probably be happy

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because we've got both New York teams
favorite the Mets to repeat and win the

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National League there's seven to five
favorites and the Yankees to be the

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American League champions are seven to
two favorites. Roxy there's lots of

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different sports that people gamble on
obviously I was wondering any particular

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sport in which the computer is really
a big advantage? Yes it's the biggest

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advantage in college basketball because
we have to chart and track 162 teams.

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There's thousands of variables there's
injuries to chart for every team there's

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just so much that without this service
it would be almost impossible. Huge

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database then. Yes. I guess Robin as you
said you're the Dow Jones or the sports

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world. The sports world right. Robin Roxy
thank you very much. As we saw at the

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beginning of the program horse racing
depends very much on computers for its

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betting system and one of the newest and
most modern computerized betting systems

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is here at Golden Gate Fields
in the San Francisco Bay

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area. Wendy Woods has that report.

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While certain traditions at the track
will never fall under the spell of

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technology the business of racetrack betting
has it many fields been automated to

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a level as sophisticated as the nation's
election system. Unlike the old days of

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just a few years ago relay systems and
tallying by individual clerks have been

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replaced by massive computerized betting
systems. Here at Golden Gate Fields in

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Albany California the odds the race
results are up to three million dollars in

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bets placed daily pass through seven
continuously operating phone lines to the

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brains of the operation a mainframe at the
nearby Bay Meadows racetrack. Better's

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can still go face to face with humans
for their wagers but the clerks all use

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terminals linked up to the system.
The more adventurous better can use a self

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serve betting machine or the newest touch
screen terminals. They bet and collect

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with vouchers that can be used for the
entire day of winning or losing. Even the

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tote board on the track is controlled
and automatically updated by this one

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computer system. Marty Miller of Amto is
the brains behind the operation. It's

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actually very simple because we have access
to the computer at Bay Meadows and I

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can go back to just any window in a plant
here and tell them exactly where they

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stand with their wagers how many tickets
they've sold what they have done in

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their last four transactions. Sometimes
they forget where they are we can help

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them balance out. He adds computerized
betting is not only efficient it's honest.

00:13:33.001 --> 00:13:37.000
Pointing to a year is every penny that
we've ever handled in mutual handle has

00:13:37.000 --> 00:13:44.000
been accounted for. We know exactly what
each clerk sells. We know exactly on the

00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:48.000
old system what they cashed. They would
balance the penny. We would count the

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tickets, what the payoffs were, how much
the state got. Every penny. Every penny

00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:56.000
has been accounted for over the years.
Things haven't always gone this smoothly

00:13:56.000 --> 00:14:00.000
on the day that new cards were issued
for the machines. The system crashed.

00:14:01.000 --> 00:14:05.000
Golden Gate fields officials soothed
tempers by issuing free rain checks for a

00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:10.000
day that the computers were back up.
Amto's computerized betting systems are

00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:14.001
installed in thousands of racetracks
worldwide and that's a pretty good track

00:14:14.001 --> 00:14:19.000
record in Albany, California for the
computer Chronicles. I'm Wendy Woods.

00:14:30.001 --> 00:14:34.001
With us in the studio now is Bob Archer
president of PDS Software of Torrance,

00:14:34.001 --> 00:14:38.001
California. Next to Bob is Professor
Michael Orkin co-founder of Best Bet

00:14:38.001 --> 00:14:45.001
Software. George. Mike, Roxy is a really
good skilled odds maker and he seems

00:14:45.001 --> 00:14:49.001
to have an edge by looking at the data
and understanding where he can get access

00:14:49.001 --> 00:14:53.000
to it but he doesn't seem to be
using computers and doing any

00:14:53.000 --> 00:14:55.000
analysis. Can you comment on that?

00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:59.001
Well if he had a program that picked the
lines and there was a bias in it, the

00:14:59.001 --> 00:15:03.000
betters would pick up on it,
any slight bias and they would start betting

00:15:03.000 --> 00:15:08.000
accordingly and as a result he'd get
locked into a system that would cause

00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:09.001
the book makers to lose.

00:15:10.001 --> 00:15:15.001
But couldn't he use a program to keep
track of that and to modify that and to

00:15:15.001 --> 00:15:17.001
actually become a better odds maker?

00:15:17.001 --> 00:15:23.000
Well I'm sure he uses computers to keep
up with data but if he had a program that

00:15:23.000 --> 00:15:28.000
actually picked the line he would have to
keep modifying it because if there were

00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:30.001
any biases and maybe some
would occur from time to time.

00:15:31.000 --> 00:15:34.000
But when he picks a line
he's going through analysis.

00:15:35.001 --> 00:15:39.001
That's right but it's a very dynamic
process and he has to keep up with what's

00:15:39.001 --> 00:15:43.000
going on and there's so many factors that
for him to get locked into a program

00:15:43.000 --> 00:15:45.000
would be very dangerous.

00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:48.000
Right now he's doing better by
staying away from a program.

00:15:48.001 --> 00:15:51.000
Right, he's doing better by staying away
from a program that actually picks the

00:15:51.000 --> 00:15:53.001
line. However he's relying on computers to

00:15:53.001 --> 00:15:55.001
provide him with all of the data that he needs.

00:15:55.001 --> 00:15:59.000
Bob, you're handicapping horses now.
Is that also a little bit subjective or

00:15:59.000 --> 00:16:00.001
can you really reduce that to statistics?

00:16:01.000 --> 00:16:07.001
No, it would always be subjective.
The computer is an instrument whereby the user

00:16:07.001 --> 00:16:12.001
would be able to manipulate all the data
to where he wants it so that he has it

00:16:12.001 --> 00:16:15.000
all in one mode to where he can use it to.

00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:17.000
You're actually making his selection from it.

00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:20.000
Show us what you would do with your
software here in handicapping a race, Bob.

00:16:20.001 --> 00:16:26.000
Well, basically our program would work
under a principle of entering the data

00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:31.000
from the racing form for each particular
horse in this particular race today.

00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:32.000
So what kind of variables do you have there?

00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:38.000
Basically we have three variables
for the race itself and

00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:39.001
approximately 11 variables for the horse.

00:16:39.001 --> 00:16:43.001
First you enter the horse's name,
his number of starts, let's say, are 12. He's

00:16:43.001 --> 00:16:48.000
got three wins.
He's got a total earnings of $67,890.

00:16:49.000 --> 00:16:54.000
And he's been away from the racetrack for
23 days. He was second, let's say, in

00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:56.000
his last race, had his first call.

00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:57.001
Again, this is information you're
pulling off the data race form.

00:16:57.001 --> 00:17:01.000
Right out of the racing form, that's correct.
His track category, let's say he's

00:17:01.000 --> 00:17:03.001
racing at Santa Anita,
his track category would be number one.

00:17:03.001 --> 00:17:07.001
The distance in his furlongs, he went a mile,
so it's going to be eight furlongs.

00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:11.001
His speed rating of his best
race of the last three was 90,

00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:13.001
with a track variant of 12.

00:17:14.001 --> 00:17:18.001
He had a top 10 jockey on his back
and his trainer rating was a 12.33.

00:17:19.001 --> 00:17:21.001
Okay. Now,
we've now entered profiles for three different

00:17:21.001 --> 00:17:23.001
horses.
Let's pretend it's a three horse race now.

00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:25.001
Can you go in and analyze
these three horses now?

00:17:25.001 --> 00:17:31.001
Yes. We would, at this point, come up with
the next screen. We'd enter zero, and

00:17:31.001 --> 00:17:35.000
it's going to calculate and put all
three horses in their proper order.

00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:37.001
And you've got a power rating
suggesting that Bosto is most

00:17:37.001 --> 00:17:39.000
likely to win the race among these two horses.

00:17:39.001 --> 00:17:45.000
Bosto, that is correct. Bosto is the
favorite here. He has a power rating

00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:46.001
exceeding 12 points.

00:17:47.000 --> 00:17:51.000
We're looking for a three and a half point
spread between the first horse and the

00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:53.001
second horse in order to have
what we call a playable race.

00:17:53.001 --> 00:17:54.000
I see.

00:17:54.001 --> 00:17:57.001
It's subject to the handicapper's
own personal biases at that point.

00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:00.000
Bob, what exactly is the software doing? How

00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:01.001
is it coming up with that
rating for those horses?

00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:08.001
It is comparing the input of all the
data on each individual item to a

00:18:08.001 --> 00:18:12.000
predetermined set of standards
that it has to compare against.

00:18:12.001 --> 00:18:13.000
With a weighting factor?

00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:17.000
With a weighting factor to each one of
them that then comes up and compares all

00:18:17.000 --> 00:18:18.001
10 of them horses against each other.

00:18:18.001 --> 00:18:22.000
Okay, Bob, if I can ask you to pass the
keyboard over to Mike now. Mike, you've

00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:25.001
got a program that helps guide betting
on football, not the horses, right?

00:18:25.001 --> 00:18:26.000
Right.

00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:27.000
And what does the software do?

00:18:27.001 --> 00:18:33.001
The software has every NFL game since 1979,
and it provides its self-contained

00:18:33.001 --> 00:18:38.000
database that comes on one floppy disk,
and it allows the person interested in

00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:42.000
football to ask questions about how
teams have done in various situations.

00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:43.001
Show us the kinds of questions you'd ask it.

00:18:43.001 --> 00:18:48.001
Well, I've entered on the program now a
look at all New York Giants games since

00:18:48.001 --> 00:18:52.001
1983, in which they lost the week before
and played on the road the week before.

00:18:52.001 --> 00:18:54.000
And a better one might
actually ask that question.

00:18:54.001 --> 00:18:57.000
Yes. This week the Giants might be
playing at home. They lost last

00:18:57.000 --> 00:18:59.000
week. Maybe they really want to win.

00:18:59.001 --> 00:19:03.000
Notice they've won at the top and the left.
They've won against a spread

00:19:03.000 --> 00:19:05.000
66.7% of the time.

00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:10.001
At the bottom they've won at home against
a spread 61% of the time away against a

00:19:10.001 --> 00:19:12.001
spread two out of two games.

00:19:12.001 --> 00:19:16.001
You can also get a list of the games and
see exactly what games were played under

00:19:16.001 --> 00:19:19.000
those conditions, what the spread was,

00:19:19.000 --> 00:19:20.001
whether they won or lost against the spread.

00:19:21.000 --> 00:19:23.000
Okay, Mike, things like,
I suppose I had a question about

00:19:23.000 --> 00:19:24.001
what's the home field advantage
on a Monday night game, right?

00:19:24.001 --> 00:19:30.000
Okay, you can look at day of the week.
In fact, let's go down and do that and

00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:32.001
just look at all Monday night games since 1983.

00:19:33.001 --> 00:19:38.000
So day of the week is down there. I'll do.
And in this case, the stats will come

00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:41.000
up just for the home team
straight up and versus the [...]

00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:42.001
Is there a question for better?

00:19:42.001 --> 00:19:45.001
Well, it's one of the many things that
a better wants to know about when

00:19:45.001 --> 00:19:47.001
trying to decide what team to pick.

00:19:47.001 --> 00:19:48.000
What's the program tell you?

00:19:48.001 --> 00:19:52.001
Well, that on Monday night the
home team has beat the spread 59.4

00:19:52.001 --> 00:19:54.000
% of the time since 1983.

00:19:54.001 --> 00:19:55.001
So they got a little bit of an inch?

00:19:56.000 --> 00:19:58.001
Well, they have a little bit of knowledge
there that they might put in with some

00:19:58.001 --> 00:20:00.000
other stuff that they'll
also find on this database.

00:20:01.000 --> 00:20:04.000
Mike, how much of an advantage is it
really for a better to have a piece

00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:05.001
of software like this and
this kind of information?

00:20:05.001 --> 00:20:09.000
Well, it enables the better to answer a
question in a couple of seconds. It might

00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:11.001
take them a few hours to do by hand or maybe

00:20:11.001 --> 00:20:13.000
not even to be able to answer at all.

00:20:13.001 --> 00:20:15.001
So his edge here is he's got
a lot of data altogether.

00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:16.000
Right.

00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:20.000
Mike, Bob, thank you very much. Now,
one of the most popular forms of gambling in

00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:22.000
this country is betting on state lotteries.

00:20:22.001 --> 00:20:25.000
One of the oldest and most sophisticated
state lotteries is the one in

00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:27.001
Pennsylvania,
where they use computers quite a bit.

00:20:28.001 --> 00:20:31.000
The Pennsylvania Lottery.

00:20:31.001 --> 00:20:35.001
Each year Pennsylvania sells more than
a billion dollars in lottery tickets.

00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:40.000
And when the jackpot gets big enough,
that can mean a sales volume of up to one

00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:42.000
million transactions an hour.

00:20:42.001 --> 00:20:44.001
None of this would be
possible without computers.

00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:49.000
And indeed the Pennsylvania Lottery
has a massive investment in computers.

00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:52.001
Retailers sell lottery numbers
from online terminals.

00:20:52.001 --> 00:20:57.001
Computers recreate each day's games
on a separate IBM backup system to

00:20:57.001 --> 00:20:59.000
ensure the integrity of the games.

00:20:59.001 --> 00:21:03.000
Computers are used to analyze sales,
project jackpots and

00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:04.001
to monitor the actual betting.

00:21:05.001 --> 00:21:09.001
The Pennsylvania Lottery, in fact,
runs one of the most complex computer networks

00:21:09.001 --> 00:21:13.000
with nearly 3000 terminals
on a controlled data system.

00:21:13.000 --> 00:21:17.000
The system has 100 percent
redundancy and a hot backup.

00:21:17.000 --> 00:21:20.000
So one rarely hears that the computer is down.

00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:25.001
In 10 years, and your viewers would be
interested to know that our uptime is 99

00:21:25.001 --> 00:21:27.001
.98 percent.

00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:31.001
As close to perfection as you possibly
could get with an online system.

00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:38.000
I don't remember a major downtime
since 1977 when we first began.

00:21:38.001 --> 00:21:42.001
One of the primary functions of the computer
system is to constantly monitor the

00:21:42.001 --> 00:21:46.000
lottery's payoff liability to make
sure that no one can break the bank.

00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:51.000
On the big four game, which pays odds
of 5000 to one, the computer makes sure

00:21:51.000 --> 00:21:54.000
that the state is never exposed
to a liability in excess of

00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:55.001
5 million dollars per game.

00:21:56.000 --> 00:22:00.001
If it senses heavy betting on one particular
number, in this case 1111, it sends

00:22:00.001 --> 00:22:03.001
out a warning and then cuts
off betting on that number.

00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:08.000
Heavy betting on a particular number often
occurs because lottery players tend to

00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:10.000
follow common patterns in picking numbers.

00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:15.001
For example, years ago when Pete Rose
was with Philadelphia and he had his

00:22:15.001 --> 00:22:19.000
certain number of hits,
they played that number.

00:22:19.000 --> 00:22:23.000
They played the Super Bowl score.
They played the Jewish New

00:22:23.000 --> 00:22:25.000
Year. They played the Chinese New Year.

00:22:25.001 --> 00:22:29.001
While the computer system assures a
random drawing every time, the law of

00:22:29.001 --> 00:22:31.000
averages takes a while to work.

00:22:31.001 --> 00:22:36.000
We've had over 3100 daily number drawings,
pick three drawings, in 10 years.

00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:42.000
However, there are two or three dozen
numbers that haven't come up out of 3100

00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:44.000
drawings and there are only a thousand numbers.

00:22:44.001 --> 00:22:47.000
The lottery's computers have many safeguards to

00:22:47.000 --> 00:22:48.001
protect against being broken into.

00:22:49.000 --> 00:22:54.000
Games are shut down exactly 168 seconds
prior to the winning drawing so that

00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:56.000
all computer tapes can be removed.

00:22:56.000 --> 00:22:59.000
That way no one can enter a
winning number after the drawing.

00:22:59.000 --> 00:23:04.000
And the computer experts here actually
hire hackers and challenge them to try to

00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:08.000
break in so that they can spot any
weaknesses which may exist in the system.

00:23:08.001 --> 00:23:12.001
Seven years ago, the Pennsylvania lottery
did fall victim to a scandal, but

00:23:12.001 --> 00:23:14.000
it had nothing to do with the computers.

00:23:14.001 --> 00:23:18.000
Most of the balls which are used in the
drawings were weighted so that only

00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:20.000
sixes would rise to the top.

00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:24.000
But a slow motion analysis of the drawing,
coupled with detailed computer

00:23:24.000 --> 00:23:26.000
analysis, led investigators to the culprits.

00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:32.000
Offline processing showed exactly
where these bets were coming from.

00:23:33.000 --> 00:23:36.001
We went to those retailers,
found out who was sitting in the white Cadillac

00:23:36.001 --> 00:23:39.001
placing all those bets,
and basically were able to

00:23:39.001 --> 00:23:41.001
convict on the computer evidence.

00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:45.000
But despite all the computers,
when it comes to calculating the

00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:47.001
payoffs, no one trusts the computers.

00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:51.000
The numbers are crunched manually
with a good old-fashioned desk

00:23:51.000 --> 00:23:53.001
calculator, some paper, and a pencil.

00:23:53.001 --> 00:23:56.000
When you're sitting alone in the middle
of the night giving away millions of

00:23:56.000 --> 00:23:59.000
dollars, you have to be absolutely
sure you're doing it perfectly.

00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:04.000
And that's our look at computers and gambling.
We'll be back in just a minute

00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:05.001
with this week's Computer News.

00:24:16.001 --> 00:24:20.000
I'm Susan Shea, sitting in for Stuart
Chafee in the Random Access File this week.

00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:24.000
NCR Corporation unveiled a new
line of personal computers.

00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:29.001
NCR introduced two AT compatibles,
one 286 machine and one 386 workstation.

00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:34.000
The machines are based on NCR's
incremental workstation architecture, and

00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:35.001
they'll be available later this year.

00:24:36.001 --> 00:24:40.000
Hewlett Packard announced three new technical
computers and said that the 930 and

00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:45.000
950 business computers announced in
1986 will finally ship this fall.

00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:49.000
All five of the computers are based on
the technology of reduced instruction

00:24:49.000 --> 00:24:50.001
set computing, or RISC.

00:24:51.000 --> 00:24:54.000
Digital equipment and Cray
research will soon introduce a new

00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:55.001
interface between their computers.

00:24:56.000 --> 00:25:00.001
The new product, a combination of digital
hardware and Cray software, is part of

00:25:00.001 --> 00:25:03.001
an effort to speed up data transfer
between the two companies' computers.

00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:08.000
Digital will market the interface in an
effort to step up pressure on IBM in

00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:09.001
the scientific computing market.

00:25:10.001 --> 00:25:13.001
And now it's time for this week's Software
Review, and here's Paul Schindler.

00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:19.001
You know, maybe I would be better at this
if I'd had a computer when I was young.

00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:24.000
Well, to help your kids do better,
here's some top-flight Macintosh educational

00:25:24.000 --> 00:25:28.000
software, KidsTime,
a collection of five educational games.

00:25:29.000 --> 00:25:33.000
Now, first there's Connect the Dots.
When you're done, the computer redraws it.

00:25:33.001 --> 00:25:37.001
Then there's A.B. Key, which takes
advantage of the max sophisticated sound.

00:25:38.000 --> 00:25:40.000
It names the letters your child types.

00:25:41.000 --> 00:25:45.001
Match It is a matching game with logic.
It starts with a robot puzzle.

00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:49.000
Each piece you get wrong,
the computer pulls back out.

00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:52.001
KidsNotes will play a song
and will also allow you to

00:25:52.001 --> 00:25:54.000
compose and record your own.

00:25:56.000 --> 00:26:00.000
Storywriter reads the story as you
write it or all at once at the end.

00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:03.001
I saw [...] left with a human.

00:26:06.000 --> 00:26:10.001
KidsTime is world-class educational
software for the Apple Macintosh, $50 from

00:26:10.001 --> 00:26:13.000
Great Wave Software in Stanford, California.

00:26:13.001 --> 00:26:15.001
For the Computer Chronicles,
I'm Paul Schindler.

00:26:17.000 --> 00:26:20.000
News from the Spring Index in
Atlanta has started to trickle in.

00:26:20.001 --> 00:26:24.001
Sharp plans to introduce two portables,
one a clone of the PC-AT called the PC

00:26:24.001 --> 00:26:29.001
-7200, and the other the PC-4500
is compatible with the PC-XT.

00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:32.001
And Samsung will show off its new clones.

00:26:33.000 --> 00:26:36.001
The SAM-88T is designed to be
XT compatible and the SAM-286

00:26:36.001 --> 00:26:38.001
is an AT compatible machine.

00:26:39.000 --> 00:26:43.000
Finally, Japanese companies are working
on a new method of software distribution

00:26:43.000 --> 00:26:45.001
that is designed to eliminate software piracy.

00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:50.000
Called the Software Service System,
the product is a box that attaches to

00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:52.001
existing computers or could
be built into new computers.

00:26:52.001 --> 00:26:56.001
Software would not run on the
computer until the box authorized it.

00:26:57.000 --> 00:27:00.001
Users would purchase a special card to
activate the box and give credit for any

00:27:00.001 --> 00:27:02.000
software the user wanted to buy.

00:27:02.001 --> 00:27:06.000
Users would be encouraged to copy
software but be prevented from using

00:27:06.000 --> 00:27:07.001
it without paying for it.

00:27:07.001 --> 00:27:09.001
And that's it for this
week's Computer Chronicles.

00:27:13.001 --> 00:27:17.001
The Computer Chronicles is made
possible by Leading Edge, makers of IBM

00:27:17.001 --> 00:27:21.000
-compatible computer systems, including
word processing with spelling correction,

00:27:21.001 --> 00:27:25.001
communication software,
and Haze-compatible 1200 and 2400 VOD modems.

00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:28.001
Leading Edge with over 1,000
service centers nationwide.

00:27:29.001 --> 00:27:32.000
Leading Edge,
leading the way to the information age.

00:27:32.001 --> 00:27:35.001
Additional funding is provided by McGraw-Hill,
publishers of Byte.

00:27:36.001 --> 00:27:40.000
Byte's detailed technical articles on new
hardware, software, and languages cover

00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:42.001
developments in computer technology worldwide.

00:28:18.001 --> 00:28:21.001
www.mooji.org